Super Bowl Ad Touchdowns: Measuring Views, Likes and Followers

The 2014 Super Bowl was the most-watched event in television history, and although the game was lopsided, TV advertisers had to be pleased with the estimated 111.5 million U.S. viewers who caught a glimpse of their commercials.

With airtime rates averaging an all-time high of $4 million per 30-second spot, it pays to measure the effect that TV advertising has on brands’ social channels. EverSpark Interactive collected social-media data on each advertiser before and after Super Bowl XLVIII and monitored postgame YouTube activity in the 19 hours following the big game.

Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” commercial plastered the competition on YouTube, racking up a whopping 38.2 million views. Budweiser also posted remarkable gains on Twitter with a 24-percent increase in followers and collected 47,000+ Facebook likes in the process. Bolstered by an average cost of just $0.21 per YouTube view, Bud takes home the championship trophy in social-media gains spurred by Super Bowl TV advertising.